Dinnertime Conversation Starters

I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, but for this year, I am vowing to make my family dinners more relaxing — and entertaining. To prepare, I've been working on conversation starters for my 9-year-old son, questions that will elicit more than "nothing," "fine," "yes," or "no." So far, I've thought of: "Name one good thing you did today." "Make any mistakes? What did you learn?" And my personal favorite: "What's your best reason for not helping me clean up?" I'd love to hear what keeps your dinner-table chat lively.